


#4 Running Out of Time

by TemporaryDysphoria



Series: TD's Whumptober 2020 [4]
Category: Lupin III
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Buried Alive, Ficlet, Very loose use of medical aids to fake death, We are grasping at clinical straws I am well aware of this, Whumptober 2020, no comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2020-10-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:55:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26910994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TemporaryDysphoria/pseuds/TemporaryDysphoria
Summary: “Fuck you Lupin.”Jigen’s voice is low, and coming from somewhere to his left. He can’t turn his head to see.“I knew it’d happen for real one day, but I didn’t think -”Prompt Fill for Day 4 of Whumptober.Prompt was: Buried Alive
Series: TD's Whumptober 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1947205
Comments: 6
Kudos: 14
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	#4 Running Out of Time

Things go bad very quickly, as things that go bad often do. 

The foil in Lupin’s pocket crinkles under his fingers and it’s only when he’s already swallowed the pills that he stops to think  _ ‘does Jigen know? _ ’ 

_ ‘Does Jigen know he had the pills this time? _ ’

Surely he did. 

Everything happened so fast he can’t remember, and then his eyelids are getting heavier, heavier, and the ground is falling up to meet him, and then nothing hurts anymore. 

* * *

Recovery always starts muffled. The anaesthetic wears off first, about thirty minutes usually before the paralytic. Lupin has been fiddling with the dose, but he hasn’t managed to get one any closer yet, because of the drug interactions. 

He can hear voices and he can’t quite open his eyes yet. Again, not unusual. No need for alarm, heightening the adrenal system would only put stress on his body and make the come-down harder. Another thing he needs to work on. 

The voices are getting clearer now, the fog in his mind is lifting. Someone is talking loudly - a monotone droning kind of voice. It’s not one he recognises, maybe he’s in a hospital. 

He’s starting to get pins and needles in his feet as his nerve endings begin to fire again. 

Actually, come to think of it, he’s wrapped up rather snugly in whatever bed they’ve got him in. 

He tries to flex his feet and can’t yet. Of course, it was too early. Much too early. He takes a deep breath, listening intently. 

Someone is crying from a way away, definitely a hospital then. 

The monotone voice has stopped. He opens his eyes at the sound of Jigen clearing his throat and is surprised to see the room around him still dark. 

Why is it still so dark?

He breathes in, counts to four, breathes out, counts to four. He can feel his pulse rate rising at the unfamiliar scenario. Where is Jigen, to explain what’s going on? To explain why he’s in a hospital, and not recovering in the safehouse when - 

“Fuck you Lupin.”

Jigen’s voice is low, and coming from somewhere to his left. He can’t turn his head to see. 

“I knew it’d happen for real one day, but I didn’t think -”

Jigen’s voice cracks, and the sound sends Lupin’s pulse sky-rocketing. 

There’s a thump above him. Jigen makes a choked sobbing sound and it’s with a growing sense of dread that Lupin finally puts two and two together. 

The thump was a fist on wood. 

He tries to make a noise but the paralytic hasn’t worn off enough yet. He can barely wiggle his toes. 

The air suddenly feels about ten degrees colder. Jigen coughs.

“I thought we’d go together.”

Another thump, and then everything is silent, except for the thunderous staccato rattling around in Lupin’s chest. 

He’s run out of time he realises - all too late. 

Run out of time and he can’t scream, can’t yell, can’t even whimper as the world starts to move around him.

Everything stops with a sudden bump, and he can hear the monotone voice from far above him. 

“Ashes to ashes, dust to dust -”

Lupin tries frantically to wriggle his fingers as the first clod of dirt hits the wood above him. He manages a groan, forcing the air through his vocal chords. 

_ Not like this.  _

_ Not like - _

_ This.  _


End file.
